Bottle carrier



July 4, 1950 w. DEERWESTER BOTTLE CARRIER Filed March 9, 1949 INVENTOR.Lester MDeerzz/esZ'er ATTORNEYS Patented July 4, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE BOTTLE CARRIER Lester W. Dcerwester, Canton, OhioApplication March 9, 1949,Serial No.'80,395

6 Claims.

The invention relates generally to cartons or containers for supportinga plurality of beverage bottles, and more particularly to a holder forquickly picking up and conveniently carrying a plurality of suchbottles. Prior carriers for beverage bottles have included sheet metalor paper cartons with handles at the top, and have required placing thebottles in the carton'one at a time andremoving them the same way, whichoperations consume a considerable amount of time. Moreover, such cartonsrequire a substantial amount of material which increases the cost of thecarton. especiallywhere it is made of sheet metal. Another disadvantageof such cartons is that when filled with bottles they cannot be stackedvery easily or securely, and when empty they cannot be nestedsatisfactorily so as to occupy a minimum amount of space duringshipment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improvedbottle carrier which is adapted for quickly picking up a plurality ofbottles simultaneously out of a case, for carrying the bottles aboutfrom placeto place.

Another object is to provide a novel carrier consisting of twocomplementary parts, normally detachably hinged together and easilydisengageable and nested for shipment.

Another object is to provide a novel carrier consisting of twocomplementary parts which are quickly assembled operating positionwithout tools or fastening means.

A further object is to provide a novel carrier which is adapted whenfilled with bottles to be easily and securely stacked with a pluralityof like carriers.

Another object is to'provide a novel carrier consisting of two hingedparts adapted when opened to engage a plurality of bottle necks, .and

when lifted to close around the necks and lift the bottles.

A further object is to provide a novel bottle carrier which is adaptedto .pick up and carry different numbers of bottles and which can bereleased with the fingers of the hand grasping the carrier.

.A still further object is to provide a novel bottle carrier which issimple and inexpensive to manufacture, and which requires a, minimumamount of material.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, constructions andarrangements which comprises the presentinvention, the nature of whichis set tort-h in the following general statement, and a preferredembodiment of which is set forth in the following description andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, and. which is particularly anddistinctly pointed out in the appended claims forming part hereof.

In general terms, the bottle carrier comprising the present inventionincludes two com lementary L-shaped halves or portions formedof sheetmetal normally in back-to-back =position with their vertical legs inabutment and hinged to,- gether at the top, the complementary pontions'having downwardly spaced inturncd bottom flanges with opposed notches intheir inner edge portions for engaging a plurality of bottle neck-S.there being registering hand holes in the abutting legs for grasping andlifting the carrier, and the weight of the bottles acting :to hold thecomplementary portions together with their vertical legs in abutment asthe bottles are lifted.

Referring to the drawing forming part hereof.

in which a preferred embodiment of the in? vention in shown by way ofexample;

Figure. 1- is an end elevational view of the novel carrier in partlyopen position for engage ingaround the, necks of a plurality of bottles;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the carrier in closed position forlifting the bottles;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the interfittinghinged portions in the closed position of Fig. 2;

- Fig. a detached bottom plan view of the carrier in closed position;

Fig. 5 is a detached .side elevation of one of the complementary carrierportions. looking toward the inside thereof; .and

Fig. -6 is an end .elevational view on a reduce scale, showing themethod of stacking the novel carriers filled with bottles one upon theother.

The novel bottle carrier consists of two com?- lementary halves .orportions preferably of sheet metal hinged loack-tmhack and indicatedgenerally at l0. and H. The two portions .Ill and U are identical exceptfor the hinged portions at the top which are slightly difierent as bestshown in Fig. 3. The hinge of the complementary portion Ii is curled ona smaller radius to form a smaller sleeve [2 which fit slidably'withlnthe sleeve IQ of the portion I0; and within the hand hole M of theportion Hi, the sleeve 13 terminates in a flap I5 which extends throughthe registering hand holes I4 and i6 and overlaps the opposite .edge ofthe hinge sleeve 13, thus providing a smooth handle surface :on theunderside of the hinge. The hinge sleeve 512 can be slidably engagedwith or disengaged from the sleeve l3 by swinging the portions 5"] and.1-1

minate in spaced-apart relation when the carrier is in closed position,as shown in Fig. 2.

The bottom flanges 20 are provided with a plurality of opposed U-shapednotches 22 open at their inner edges, as best shown" in Fig. 4, and

nested for shipping by reversing the position of one part.

As shown in Fig. 6, when the novel carrier is filled with bottles andthe bottles resting on the floor or other support, other like carriersfilled with bottles can be easily and securely stacked on the topthereof. Obviously, the construction of the novel carrier represents asubstantial saving in material as compared with a carrier having walls,extending 'under the bottles for supporting them from the bottom.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to beimsix of such notches may be providedfor lifting varied as desired tocarry various numbers of bottles, as for example, four, eight, ortwelve.

1 As indicated in the drawing, the notches 22- are of such dimensions asto engage around the neck of a standard beverage bottle just below theusual bulge 23 formed at the top portion of the neck of the bottle. Theupwardly inclined edge portions 2| of the bottomflanges serve to tightlyengage and grip the bulged portions 23 of the bottle necks, as thenotches 22 are moved inwardly around the bottle necks when the carrieris lifted by grasping the hinge portions at the hand holes. I

Moreover, when the carrier is forced downwardly over apluralityof thebottles B standing in a case or shipping carton, the engagement of theinclined portions 2l with the bottle tops serves to spread thecomplementary portions I0 and H, as indicated in Fig. 1, so that theopen inner ends of the notches 22 slip downwardly; below thebulged-portions 23 of the bottles in readiness to engage under the same.When the carrier is then lifted, the weight of the bottlesbearing on the:inclined portions 2| at the edges of the notches will pull thecomplementary portions llland l I together to the position of Fig. 2,thus engaging the notches securely around and under thebulges' 23 of thebottle necks.-- a

As shown in the drawing, the-ends of the bottom flanges 20 arepreferably bent upwardly to form end flanges 25 for reinforcing thenarrow strips of the bottom wall adjacent the end notches. As shown inFigs. 4 and 5, the-inner corners 26 of the notches are bent slightlyupwardly and rounded to facilitate engaging the notches around thebottle necks. The novel bottle carrier is adapted for quickly picking upand carrying a plurality of beverage bottles out of a case, merely byforcing the carrier held in one hand downwardly over the bottles toengage the notches around the necks and then lifting the carrier"upwardly. Moreover, when it isdesired to release the bottles, this canbe done by'placing the bottles on a supporting surface, lowering thecarrier and spreading the complementary portions thereof with thefingers of the supporting hand, to disengage the notches from the pottlenecks. v g i :The two complementary parts of the novel car.- rier arequickly assembled and disassembled without the use of tools or fasteningmeans merely by sliding the hinge sleeve of one part longitudinally intoor out of the hinge sleeve of the ,other.. When disassembled the twoparts can be plied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art,because such words are used for descriptive purposes. herein and areintended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of the improved construction illustrated anddescribed herein is by way of example, and the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to the exact details of construction. c

Having now described the. invention, the construction, the operation anduse of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new anduseful results obtained thereby; the new. and useful constructions, andreasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in;the art, are set forth in the appendedclaims.-

1. Aibottle carrier...including two complementary L-shaped. portionsformed of sheet material with their verticallegs hinged togetherat'their top edges and normally abutting each other in closed position,said legs having-registering hand holes therein, the horizontal legshaving annular flanges extending downwardly and inwardly from theirouter edges, said inturned -bottom flanges having opposed notches: at.their inner edges for engaging around the necks of a plurality ofbottles for lifting the same.

2. -A bottle carrier includin two complementary L-shape'd portionsformed of sheet material with their vertical legs hinged together attheir top edges and normally abutting each other in closed position,said legs having registering hand holes therein, the horizontal legshaving angular flanges extendingdownwardly and inwardly from their outeredges, said inturned bottom flanges havingopposed notches'in their inneredges for being engaged around the necks of a plurality of bottles whensaid L-shaped portions are in open-position,said bottom flanges closingaround said bottle necks to lift-"the same when the carrier is lifted bygrasping the hinged top edges l I,

3. A bottle carrier including two complementary L-shaped portions formedof sheet material with their-vertical legs hinged together at their topedges and normally abutting each other in closed position,saidlegshaving registerin hand holes therein, the horizontal legs havingangular flanges extending downwardly and inwardly from their outeredges, said inturned flanges having upwardly inclined inner edgeportions provided with opposed notches for engaging around the necks ofa plurality of bottles'for lifting the same. I

4. A bottle carrier including two complementary L-shaped portions'formedof sheet material and positioned back-to-lback, the vertical legs ofsaid portions having 'interfitting longitudinally disen'gageablehingediportions at their top edges for permitting swinging thecomplementary 'por tions apart, said legs having registering hand holestherein, the horizontal legs having angular flanges extending downwardlyand inwardly from their outer edges, said inturned bottom flanges havingopposed notches at their inner edges for engaging around the necks of aplurality of bottles for lifting the same.

5. A bottle carrier including two complementary L-sha'ped portionsformed of sheet material and positioned back-to-back, the vertical legsof said portions having interfitting longitudinally disengageable hingedportions at their top edges for permitting swinging the complementaryportions apart, said legs having registering hand holes therein, thehorizontal legs having angular flanges extending downwardly and inwardlyfrom their outer edges, said inturned bottom flanges having opposednotches in their inner edges for being engaged around the necks of aplurality of bottles when said L-shaped portions are in open position,said bottom flanges closing around said bottle necks to lift the samewhen the carrier is lifted by grasping the hinged top edges.

6. A bottle carrier including two complemenhaving upwardly inclinedinner edge portions provided with opposed notches for engaging aroundthe necks of a plurality of bottles for lifting the same.

LESTER W. DEERWESTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,067,124 Hoffman Jan. 5, 19372,348,187 Beskin May 9, 1944 25 2,408,249 Cohn Sept. 24, 1946

